Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Went up to New York City this past Friday to finally visit my friend Maggie. Came back Monday, but we had an awesome two (& maybe a half?) days. It was a lot of walking.Took a Chinatown bus there & back. Some clouds on the way up to NYC.Got to the city past 9 p.m.; on schedule.34th StreetFinally off the bus (it was a numbing experience).

I think i had taken a shower when we got to Maggie & Hilary's apartment, & when i got out, Maggie was online & said, "Gay marriage passed?" We checked on Google, & the top story, posted 38 minutes before, indeed said that New York state had legalized gay marriage! We were happy. It was a pretty awesome day to arrive in NYC, i think. (We didn't go & run around in the streets, no. We were all pretty tired; i was really tired.)I like The Bean.We stopped by the Strand.And looked at the Farmers' Market.The Met!We found Voldemort! (Doesn't he look like movie Voldemort? Look at his facial structure! I could not stop laughing.)I liked this guy's hair.Canoe prow-- Iatmul people, Mindimbit village, Middle Sepik region, Papua New Guinea(After reading Neither Wolf nor Dog, however, i couldn't help but question if it was really right to have these art pieces here, in a museum. It reminded me of a lot of things Dan said on the subject, and made me a little uncomfortable, even though it is an awesome sight to see. But still.)Finally got to see a Chagall in person! The Lovers.Detail of The Seine at Chatou, Maurice de VlaminckLa Negrésse, Atelier of Jean-Baptiste CarpeauxPerseus' buttAndromeda and the Sea Monster, Domenico GuidiYou'd be pissed, too!Cupid and Psyche, Antonio CanovaInside the studiolo from the palace of Duke Federico da Montefeltro at GubbioA mail shirt: "The inscription includes the 'Prayer to Ali,' a talismanic prayer often used in times of danger."Lamassu! The Palace of Ashurnasirpal II.The Death of Socrates, Jacques-Louis DavidYoung Woman with a Water Pitcher, Johannes VermeerAutumn Landscape, design attributed to Agnes Northrop for Tiffany StudiosYEAH, HOLY SHITView of Oyster Bay, Louis C. Tiffany, Tiffany StudiosMourning Victory from the Melvin Memorial, Daniel Chester FrenchThe Angel of Death and the Sculptor from the Milmore Memorial, Daniel Chester FrenchThen we went to a little ramen place. This is my food; shio tsuke-men.The next morning; Sunday. This is a tiny alleyway type thing, & pigeons apparently like it. We woke up to pigeons talking every morning.Prospect Park, where we found this awesome tree growing sideways.We also found an old Dutch church (founded in the 1600s!) that had an old graveyard. The most recent tombstone was from someone who had died in the 1880s.We also went to Peanut Butter & Co.!And we went to NYC's Pride!It was awesome; there were a lot of happy people. I saw a middle-aged couple where one man wore a shirt saying "33 Years"; the other's said, "Together." People were holding signs; on the one side it said, "Thank you Governor Cuomo." On the back it said, "Promise kept!"

We walked around the festival for a bit, but it was too crowded to really enjoy it. We ended up taking the subway back because i'm a wimp & my feet were killing me past the point of endurance. (I got one hell of a blister.)Monday. I wanted to go to The Bean one last time before i left. Their chai latte is really freaking good.Back on the bus. I didn't manage to get any postcards for anyone, so i figured a picture of an NYC taxicab would do.And a picture of what most people must think of when they think "New York City."The bus ride back was better in the fact that it was nowhere as crowded as the ride up, & i didn't go numb at all.